<p>I agree that it was awful the way Nigel did that. I thought at first it was odd as I have never heard a judge say who they would be voting for. Then I came to the same conclusion as everyone else, that he was trying to manipulate the votes. I don’t doubt Cyrus is a nice guy, but he was never very good in anything other than his own genre. The previous non technical dancers that have done well have amazed me by their ability to do well in other genres. </p>
<p>Eliana is amazing.</p>
<p>Ughh. I went to HS open house and missed it! I wonder if I can watch it online - does anyone know?</p>
<p>I thought Tiffany talking about how no one knew who she was, while true, came off as whiny. </p>
<p>Twitch is probably the most charismatic dancer (and person!) the show has ever had. </p>
<p>Agree with all the opinions about Cheon/Cyrus. Cyrus is adorable and so obviously gobsmacked at his good fortune, which makes me love him even more. But he should not win. Absolutely not.</p>
<p>AllThisisNewtoMe, the website “Rickey” followed by “dot org” posts Youtubes of all the dances (but not necessarily all the before and after) the same evening–you’ll have to scroll down a bit, because he has already put a bunch of subsequent postings up.</p>
<p>How awesome was it to see classical ballet in the finale??!</p>
<p>Interesting theory about Nigel trying to manipulate viewers to vote for Cyrus; that rings true. But what about the girls? IIRC, he said that Eliana was the best dancer in the history of the show, or something to that effect. Do you think he was trying to galvanize the Tiffany fans?</p>
<p>To me, when Nigel said Eliana was the best dancer in the history of the show it sounded more like asking voters to support her than it did anything else.</p>
<p>I wonder if Nigel has any clue how transparent he is.</p>
<p>I squirmed when Nigel claimed that Eliana is the best SYTYCD dancer ever. The best SYTYCD dancer should be at least excellent in her genre and itll take a few more years before she comes close to half the level of Prima Ballerina Svetlana Zakharova. She even stumbled in the side-by-side pirouette with Tiffany during the pole dance routine. It seems to me that in order for her to do a flawless pirouette she needs to be spotted by a partner which is what happened in the boring pas de deux with Chehon. </p>
<p>I need to see Eliana execute amazing, quick fouette turns to be impressed which Tiffany did in her solo. She is a better pole dancer though than Tiffany while Tiffany is hands down better in hip hop over Eliana. It is an unfair comparison though because Eliana is a former pole aerialist for Cirque du Soleil while Tiffanys genre is jazz. Maybe the girls dance routine together should have been a hip hop number instead so we can see who can be more buck away from their genre? </p>
<p>I love both their personalities but based on leg extensions, Eliana has the edge. That being said, I still voted for Tiffany. I love both of them so it doesnt matter to me who wins. If Audrey was still there Id probably vote for her instead.</p>
<p>Next week, well find out if Nigels reverse psychology strategy for Cyrus will work for or against him. If Cyrus does win, the dance cred of SYTYCD has been spoiled for me and its time to bid adieux permanently.</p>
<p>I thought Nigel’s comments about his affection for Cyrus but vote for Chehon was all about salvaging his own professional reputation, so that no one would be able to think that he did not know who was the real dancer. Kudos to them for not cheating about the results and getting rid of Cyrus early on. (I bet a quirky dancer with only one style will not be in top 20 ever again!). Tiffany’s place in the finals is a mystery to
me. Chehon is gorgeous in everything he does. Eliana is a lovely dancer and person. Here’s hoping!</p>
<p>I don’t know much about ballet, but Eliana does not seem to have the physique of a prima ballerina. Personally I thought her pas de deux with Chehon was surprisingly boring also considering that is said to be her style. Why not choose a more dynamic contemporary ballet?</p>
<p>lorelei, I had the same exact impression about Nigel’s offensive gushing over Cyrus and then saying, I won’t vote for you. He has obviously taken a lot of (deserved) flack for cheering Cyrus all these weeks over traditionally trained and disciplined dancers. It was his last gasp to say, oops, yes I do support the idea that great dancers need to, um, work at their craft and be of high quality. So it came off as lame, self-serving, and kinda jerky. ;)</p>
<p>OTOH, I do love Eliana’s dancing, but to call anyone “the best ever on SYTYCD” always strikes me as inane. Don’t they pretty much same similar things (best choreography, best performance, best best best) each season somehow? Short memories.</p>
<p>As for Twitch, I was amazed to read he is in a relationship with another of my favorite all-stars, Alllison.</p>
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<p>Of course she doesn’t and she was working for Cirque du Soleil, not a legit ballet company. But she is a great entertainer. If we were back in the golden days of movies, she could be a real star, in the tradition of Sonja Henie and Esther Williams.</p>
<p>I thought the two boys dancing showcased a dancer vs not a dancer. I thought for sure they’d talk about the huge difference between the two and how obvious one was trained and the other not. My jaw hit the ground when they praised Cyrus over that.</p>
<p>I think Chehon and Tiffany both got a little screwed at the end. Chehon did just stand there during the pas de deux for the average sytycd watcher and Tiffany got put in a dance with a pole, with a professional pole dancer. </p>
<p>And now suddenly Nigel is looking the fool for having someone probably win with 0 dancing skills. Twitch spanked him last night. </p>
<p>And yes - I love Allison as well, and love the two of them together.</p>
<p>Unfortunately Eliana and Chehon got stuck with a choreographer lost in time. I would have liked to see her more modern ballet.</p>
<p>I guess I would agree that she has been the best female dancer in that she’s pretty much blown it out of the water every time she’s been on, and mostly been way, way out of her genre. And, responsible for a whole lot of heavy lifting with Cyrus. I would have liked to see her get some more hard-edged hip hop routines, but I’d also like to see some of the contemporary dancers get pushed further out of their ranges. And much as he is sometimes dissed, Benji Schwimmer is the only one of the guys I can remember who also managed to do a pretty fabulous job with everything thrown his way.</p>
<p>I also get the feeling that the choreographers LOVE working with Eliana, and I hope that bodes well for her getting future work.</p>
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<p>Me, too. And I think that her coloring makes her even more versatile…unlike Amelia (as an extreme example), Eliana could be a Sharks girl in West Side Story.</p>
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<p>All the more reason to give her (and Chehon) a modern ballet piece to dance rather than a moldy old Nutcracker number. </p>
<p>I’m not as big of a fan of Eliana as everyone here but I think she really got tanked week after week. First having to hold up Cyrus then getting some pretty blah choreography with just a couple of notable exceptions.</p>
<p>Part of dance is The performance APART from the actual dance, and part of performance is personality. Imo, Eliana has so much more personality in her dance than Tiffany . </p>
<p>I like Cyrus a lot, but Cheon is AMAZING. They both seem to have a kind personality.</p>
<p>I thought that “moldy old Nutcracker number” was breathtakingly beautiful, and the muscles in my right leg were screaming in sympathy as Eliana effortlessly produced develope’ after beautiful develope’ , interspersed with perfectly executed pirouettes, assisted flawlessly by Cheon. Her leg (and her beautiful smile) never wavered a smidge. :)</p>
<p>Eliana was a member of the Joffrey Ballet in NYC. She’s no “ballerina wannabe” but the real deal.</p>
<p>Fully satisfied! Except for the awkward way they announced one winner, threw them off to the side, then announced the other winner…</p>